Rangers' Peter Laviolette says being NHL All-Star Game coach is 'more of a reflection of your team'
Rangers head coach reacts in the first period against the Canucks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 8. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was named on Sunday as the coach of the Metropolitan Division squad at the NHL’s All-Star Weekend. Before the Rangers hosted the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, he spoke about what it meant to him.
“It's more of a reflection of your team, if I'm being quite honest,’’ said Laviolette, whose Rangers (27-13-2) were leading the division before Tuesday’s game. “The players and the coaches, the coaching staff, and the work that they've put into it, the training staff, the medical staff, our organization, it's more of an organizational nod that our team's doing well. It's not just a reflection on me.
"But it should be fun."
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who started Tuesday night, is the Rangers' player who is taking part in the weekend festivities, scheduled for Feb. 1-3 in Toronto.
No restrictions for Pitlick
Forward Tyler Pitlick, who missed the previous six games with a lower-body injury, took part in the morning skate without wearing a non-contact jersey.
“He's cleared to going full with us, no restrictions, and so that's positive,’’ Laviolette said of Pitlick.
With Pitlick returning to health, the Rangers now have 13 forwards, meaning one extra for every game.
“It does give us more depth and personnel that's available to us, depending on the game and the situation and what we might need,’’ Laviolette said. “I think that's important, especially through the middle of the season here, where things pop up all the time. We had to have some recalls [from the minor leagues] recently, and it'd be nice to have that [depth] in-house here. But we've been dealing with some stuff. Every team does.’’
Four-game road trip
The Rangers are scheduled to fly to Las Vegas Wednesday for their four-game road trip to Vegas and California. They play at Vegas Thursday, at the Los Angeles Kings Saturday, Anaheim Sunday and at San Jose next Tuesday . . . Artemi Panarin picked up his 33rd assist and 60th point of the season Tuesday when he set up Vincent Trocheck's power-play goal early in the first period.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
